What To Do When Your Teen Doesn’t Understand What’s Going On In Class

It can be very daunting indeed when you don’t understand a word the teacher is saying in class.How is your teen supposed to study and retain information if they don’t even understand what it is they need to know?!There are a myriad of reasons why your teen might not understand what is going on in class.Just to name a few:

• They might have trouble concentrating for extended periods of time, and only tune back in once they’ve missed something really important.
   
• They might not be able to follow what the teacher is doing or saying, so need it to be explained in a different way.
   
• Or perhaps they’re being distracted by other pupils.
   

If your teen doesn’t keep up with what’s going on in class there’s no way they’re going to be able to complete their homework satisfactorily or study effectively.

What can you do to help your teen perform better during class?

Firstly, you need to try and figure out the reason why your teen doesn’t understand what’s going on in class. If this is a real problem for them, hopefully they’ll have some idea why.If you’re not able to get what the problem is from your teen, then it might be worth asking their teacher. Particularly if your teen is sitting with others who are hindering more than helping their progress in class, your teen may not be willing to divulge this information...

If you can identify what the issue is, you can take steps to fix it

Maybe your teen needs to sit closer to the front of the class?Maybe the teacher goes too fast for them and they need a bit of extra help after school.Maybe their teacher might have a few ideas that might help.

Maybe they don’t like the subject.

If this is the case, you need to tell your teen to suck it up. Well, maybe tell them as much in a nicer way... But the message needs to be clear; they’re not going to enjoy every subject they do, but this doesn’t mean it’s not important.We all have to do things that aren’t fun sometimes in life, but we’ve got to look at the bigger picture. Your teen needs to do the same. 
It may turn out that you just need to encourage your teen and offer them a bit of help with the subjects they don’t particularly like.If your teen is struggling with keeping up in the classroom and you’re completely stuck, let me know in the comments below. I might have a few ideas that will help! 

Image Credit: Alex Bellink on Flickr